I Won’t Be Buying One Of These “Assistants”

Earlier this year, a friend of mine was telling me about his Alexa. I gave some thought to getting one, or a Google Home, but that didn’t last long. If I were interested, I’d have to get an Alexa because that’s the only one that works with my smart thermostat.

Currently, consumer AIs are fairly useless. Most of the features they advertise are only useful if you live in San Francisco or New York City or are a sports fan. Or you can afford to eat at pretentious restaurants that take reservations from Siri.

I’ve known about how every device you have records everything you say, and every noise you make for years. My phone, smart watch, computers, and probably TV record everything and it ends up at the National Spying Agency data center in Utah. I know.